


Sic Semper

by Himmelreich



Category: K (Anime)
Genre: Gen, Prompt Fic, mostly canon compliant, set during Dresden times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-30
Updated: 2015-01-30
Packaged: 2018-03-09 15:56:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3255746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Himmelreich/pseuds/Himmelreich
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>„Are you alright?“</i><br/><i>There was a noncommittal groan, muffled by the folio the man had buried his face in, before he finally turned his head a little, one tired eye surrounded by dark circles meeting Daikaku‘s gaze. Weismann looked even more colourless than usual, more akin to a moving fragile black and white photograph than an actual living human being, from his pale skin and white hair to the grey of his irises entirely monochrome.</i><br/><i>„I‘ve been holed up here below ground for one week straight, the only way I can still tell what time it is is by trusting my watch“, he made a pause at that, face twisting into a frown, „well, at least I </i>assume<i> it‘s afternoon right now and not in the middle of the night. I might have lost track of it after all, now that I think about it.“</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Sic Semper

**Author's Note:**

> Requested in a meme on tumblr, "Weismann and Daikaku: tourist/knowledgeable local au". Since the prompt fit so well with the series' canon, however, it ended up being mostly canon compliant instead. I really don't know how to do proper AU haha ( ˙ ᴗ ˙ )

„Aaah, I need to get out of here this instance or I‘ll die for real!“  
This sudden cry was followed up by a loud thump and Daikaku jerked his head around sharply from where he was sitting reading files on a chair by the door towards the giant desk taking up most of the small room. Barely visible behind a wall of stacked up books, journals, loose papers and coffee cups, he could make out a seemingly boneless heap of white cloth and hair lying flat spread out on the surface, a pale glow in the dim chamber illuminated only by an occasionally flickering bare lightbulb. Worried, Daikaku sprang to his feet and crossed the distance in two steps, automatically reaching out and gingerly placing his hand on Weismann‘s back. He was breathing normally, at least.

„Are you alright?“  
There was a noncommittal groan, muffled by the folio the man had buried his face in, before he finally turned his head a little, one tired eye surrounded by dark circles meeting Daikaku‘s gaze. Weismann looked even more colourless than usual, more akin to a moving fragile black and white photograph than an actual living human being, from his pale skin and white hair to the grey of his irises entirely monochrome.  
„I‘ve been holed up here below ground for one week straight, the only way I can still tell what time it is is by trusting my watch“, he made a pause at that, face twisting into a frown, „well, at least I _assume_ it‘s afternoon right now and not in the middle of the night. I might have lost track of it after all, now that I think about it.“

„It _is_ afternoon“, Daikaku helpfully supplied, feeling sympathy and pity rise up inside of him. Even more disciplined soldiers fell into cabin fever from less, and despite his nonchalant attitude and prankster ways, Weismann had worked nonstop on his research these past days, already busy with his notes when Daikaku had dropped by his office in the morning and still absorbed when he had left in the evening to return to his own quarters, and without Klaudia having to constantly hover over his shoulder to reprimand him, too. There was a newfound eagerness bordering on obstinate obsession to him.

 _“Time is running out“_ , he had explained to Daikaku a few days ago when he had carefully commented on his apparent change of behaviour, sounding unusually somber and earnest. _„I still believe that this phenomenon can save us, that it wasn‘t a coincidence we found out about it now, and if only I can solve this mystery in time, all this sadness and suffering might finally end before it comes to the worst.“_ There was no need for him to elaborate on that last part, since they both knew that no matter what the higher-ups told them to keep up the morale, the situation was beyond dire at this point.

„You should take a break, Weismann, I agree, but leaving the bunker-“  
„I haven‘t had a breath of fresh non-filtered air in ages!“ Weismann whined, straightening up so suddenly he collided with Daikaku who was still standing bent over behind his chair. Instead of moving back, he leaned into him, tilting his head against Daikaku‘s chest and regarding him upside down.  
„You could come with me, you know. You‘ve been down here as long as I have, you probably need the change of pace as much as I do by now.“

True, Daikaku could feel the faint throbbing behind his strained eyes from reading countless journals and reports the past hours and days in dim light, even more taxing on him due to the foreign language and unfamiliar handwriting. _„If you already have trouble reading my handwriting, you should see my sister‘s“,_ Weismann had joked once, which had promptly gotten him a kick in the shin by an angelically smiling Klaudia, but to be honest, both siblings‘ handwritings equally looked like lines and lines of slanted continuous indistinguishable loops to Daikaku more often than not.

„That may be true, but it is still dangerous.“  
„Well, that‘s what I have you for then, right?“ Weismann gave him a playful nudge in the side just above his waist belt, currently devoid of weapons. Daikaku decided with a sigh that it was probably pointless to try and convince the stubborn scientist of the fact that even armed with a gun and a sword, he still would be little use in case of an air raid, knowing that once this man had made his mind up on something, it was near impossible to argue on grounds of reason with him. The only thing that might work in a situation like this was interference by Klaudia, but with her not around for day, having been summoned to some meeting in the capital and taken the overnight train the day earlier, Daikaku doubted his chances of successfully stopping this plan in time. And knowing Weismann, he really would take off on his own, and in that case, it would definitely be preferable if someone accompanied him to make sure everything was alright.

„Let me get a coat first, then.“  
His sighed caving-in was met with a dazzling smile that made it impossible to bear a grudge against the other man. Weismann‘s effect on people was a force of nature almost as mysterious and potentially disastrous as the power within the Dresden Slate itself, and Daikaku found himself to be utterly defeated by it time and time again.

 

About half an hour later, they passed the last steel door shutting off the cool underground maze from the outside world, and entered the vast main hall of the church hiding the entrance to the research lab. The low afternoon sun painted the floor and they themselves in the colours of the stained glass windows as they made their way towards the main portal, shutting the heavy oak door behind them and stepping into the lazy warmth of a late summer day. 

They had met with a surprising lack of resistance on the side of the guards regarding their plans for an afternoon walk - with them both being irregular curiosities to the normal soldiers, the childishly excitable and pacifist albino scientist and the freakishly tall foreign lieutenant with his strange abilities, they were regarded with a mixture of indifference by the soldiers and antipathy, and no-one seemed too bothered by the prospect of them leaving the facility without prior notice for an undetermined amount of time. Daikaku was aware that some even considered them to be good riddance, him more so than Weismann, probably, because that one was still to be protected at all costs until he had figured out how to weaponise the Slate. Not that he considered that his personal objective, but the fewer people knew about that, the better.

„Aaah, I really needed this“, Weismann sighed with obvious contentment, stretching his arms and tilting his head towards with the sun with closed eyes.  
„It is indeed pleasant“, Daikaku agreed and gently pulled his companion a little bit towards him to avoid him running into a street lamp. He was not to keen on having to explain to the soldiers back at the research lab why their esteemed genius had returned with a black eye, and also they attracted enough attention as it was without publicly embarrassing themselves. Weismann had traded his usual white lab coat for a light canvas trench coat, and Daikaku, too, had shrugged on a summer jacket in lieu of his uniform one, which admittedly did little to make him appear civilian with the distinct trousers and riding boots still visible. On the other hand, bothering with any attempt at disguises was fairly nonsensical in general, as they would stick out of the crowd even in the plainest clothes due to their height and unusual looks. 

„You‘re being too self-conscious again, Lieutenant.“  
Daikaku snapped from his musings and turned to look at Weismann in surprise, and found the man looking at him with a smile and only one eye opened, arms still crossed behind his head. Apparently his thoughts had been showing on his face again - for all Weismann himself was hard to read, he was surprisingly good at guessing at other people‘s thoughts. He probably was not called a genius for nothing, after all.  
„Who cares if we stand out? It‘s not like the opinion of the others matter. Plus, it‘s the two of us standing out equally, that‘s kind of comforting, isn‘t it?“

The two-against-the-world logic probably was a twin thing, Daikaku thought, but smiled back in response nonetheless. They walked a few minutes without any true destination in mind down the road in agreeable silence only disrupted by Weismann humming melodies Daikaku could not put name to. Then, as sudden as he did most things, Weismann turned around 180 degrees with a jump, starling Daikaku, but continued walking backwards with his face towards his friend as if it was the most natural thing to do.  
„Come to think of it, I think it‘s the first time the two of us are walking about the city alone. You‘ve been here with my sister and on your own before, though, if I remember correctly? So, have you seen the most interesting places yet?“

„Uhm“, Daikaku began lamely, distracted by worriedly looking out for his unpredictable companion who kept the same walking speed on the uneven cobblestone road without caring where he was going apparently, „I think so? I stuck to the recommendations in my German travel guide I brought from Japan. It mentioned the Zwinger, the Frauenkirche of course, the-“  
Weismann made a dismissive sound.  
„So you‘ve seen a lot of buildings then, that‘s great.“  
„These buildings are important landmarks of this city‘s history and culture, though, so I think it is important“, Daikaku justified himself, not quite sure why he felt flustered because of Weismann‘s amused and yet slightly disapproving expression.  
„As with everything, you‘re so earnest about this, Lieutenant“, Weismann taunted, but laughed at the same time. „I‘d say the most vital thing to culture are people and their everyday customs, you know, so that‘s what you should get to know. Like this, for instance.“

With that, he turned back and grabbed hold of Daikaku‘s arm, dragging him along down another road and across a street, neverminding the lack of a pedestrian crossing and Daikaku‘s weak utterances of protest.  
„This“, he instead proudly exclaimed once he had come to a standstill, theatrically spreading his arms, „is the Old Market.“  
Daikaku looked around himself, but in all fairness, nothing about this market square struck him as particularly noteworthy and different from those of other cities he had been to. Apparently, his lack of being impressed had shown on his face, as Weismann immediately continued.

„Granted, it doesn‘t look like much right now, you have to see it during Christmas time, Lieutenant! It‘s home to the most wonderful Christmas Market in Germany, I tell you, Nürnberg has nothing on this one! It‘s wonderfully lit up with candles and lanterns and you‘ll find lots of interesting goods being sold, and especially“, at that he leant in and playfully poked Daikaku in the stomach, „the local speciality regarding food, Stollen. Have you heard of that before?“  
Daikaku had hardly shook his head yet as Weismann already excitedly continued, counting the ingredients off his fingers.

„It‘s a kind of Christmas cake, I guess, with raisins and marzipan and dried fruit, nuts or almonds sometimes, too, and powdered sugar on top. Everyone has their own family recipe, you see, but they all bring their finished dough to the bakeries to have them bake it for them, it‘s kind of a tradition. Klaudia is really fond of it, though, between the two of us, she once tried her hands at it, and the result was... well...“  
He gave Daikaku a sheepish smile and winked, index finger raised to his lips in a gesture of swearing his blushing friend to silence, who in turn tried his best to drive the thought of Klaudia working the kitchen wearing an apron with her hair tied up out of his mind.  
„If we‘re still here in December, I‘ll treat you to some, I‘m sure you‘d like it“, Weismann declared in a chipper tone, glossing over the smallest hint of doubt in his sentence regarding his expectation of this scenario becoming reality. 

Daikaku had just opened his mouth to reply something to assure his companion that of course they would still be around during Christmas time, and that if anything, he should treat Weismann to something as thanks for his hospitality, but in that moment, someone called out to him.  
„Herr Dai? That‘s you, isn‘t it?“  
Weismann and Daikaku turned in unison towards the man who had called from the other end of the square a few metres away from them, who had just stepped out behind his sausage vending cart, waving at them.  
„An acquaintance of yours?“, Weismann asked, eyebrows raised, as Daikaku gave a small self-conscious cough but nevertheless made his way towards the man, his friend tagging along.  
„You could say that, probably. I met him when I was finding my way around the city upon arriving, one of the most friendly and welcoming people I met back then.“  
„You sure know how to pick them“, Weismann laughed, but still waved back at the stranger with the same enthusiasm.

„Good afternoon“, Daikaku greeted with a small bow once they had arrived at the cart, and the man was positively beaming at them.  
„So I was right after all! I haven‘t seen you around at all, Dai, so I was already worried you might have left for your homeland again.“  
„Ah, no, I was just busy with work lately.“  
„I can imagine“, the vendor nodded in sudden earnest before turning towards Weismann. „And you‘re one of Dai‘s German colleagues, then?“  
„Yeah, I‘m the one usually keeping him caged up in the lab during the day, but today I thought I might show our exchange Lieutenant around the city for a bit for a change of pace“, he shot the vendor such a dazzling smile that he simply opened and closed his mouth a few times, and finally just settled on a silent nod.

„But now that we‘re here, I could also settle for a bite, how about you, Lieutenant?“  
„The two of you would get a discount, of course“, the vendor chimed in at this, again being rewarded with a bright smile by Weismann.  
„There is no way we could accept that“, Daikaku interfered, ignoring Weismann‘s pout, but to no avail.  
„See it as my personal thank you for your work for this country“, he insisted as he already prepared the food to go for them, and before Daikaku could voice any more protests, Weismann had already handed a few coins over to the man with cheerful words of thanks, and a few moments later, Daikaku already found himself being pushed down a different street by his friend who waved back at his new acquaintance from over his shoulder. Resistance against this man really was futile after all.

For a while after that, they walked in silence, each contentedly occupied with eating, until Weismann spoke again, drawing out each syllable.  
„So, Dai, was it?“  
Daikaku pointedly stared at the rest of the bun he was holding in his hand, feeling a flush creep up his neck.  
„Well, my name is really hard to pronounce for foreigners“, he finally declared, and as Weismann gave no reply, which almost always meant that he was not convinced at all, he reluctantly added: „Plus, I am not particularly fond of my name, so I do not mind if people shorten it or anything.“

„You don‘t like it?“  
Weismann sounded so entirely surprised that Daikaku gave in and turned back to face him after all, and gave a small shrug.  
„It‘s the name every leader of the Kokujouji clan automatically inherits, so it is not anything special or connected to my person in specific. Interchangeable, if you want to put it like that.“  
„Well, I hope you didn‘t mind me calling you Lieutenant, then, you should just have said something!“  
He actually looked upset, and Daikaku could not help but smile at that.  
„I did not mind“, he said in all honesty, „whatever you settle on is fine with me.“

„I‘m glad“, Weismann huffed, then, as an afterthought: „I can relate, though, I‘m not overly fond of my names, either. Neither of them.“  
„I was always wondering, what does the K. on your name tag stand for?“  
Weismann just gifted him with his best impression of the Mona Lisa smile and continued on as if he had not heard Daikaku‘s question.  
„Back when I was younger, most simply called me Adi. Fun thing, don‘t you think, how Dai and Adi match? Maybe it was fate that we met!“  
He gave Daikaku a playful shove, still laughing, and Daikaku smiled back at him.  
„Maybe.“

„Seriously, I‘m glad we met, I mean, how big were the chances after all with the world as big as it is and us coming from totally different countries?“  
Weismann gesticulated vividly to drive his point home, almost hitting Daikaku in the face in the process if not for the man‘s dodging reflexes honed by years of kendou training.  
„Sorry about that“, he apologised sheepishly, before continuing in the same breath: „You know, I‘m quite envious of your travelling, actually, Lieutenant.“  
„It certainly has its advantages“, Daikaku admitted, thinking back his previous trip to Italy in fondness, „but it also means you have to leave your home behind for some time, which is not always pleasant.“  
„Well, you see, there was this author who lived in this very city, also, who wrote adventure novels I really loved to read as a kid“, Weismann continued, a look of nostalgia on his face. „And you know, he‘d actually never been to the countries he described in those stories, he‘d only ever read other people‘s travel reports on them, and still managed to create the illusion of first-hand knowledge about them, even giving lectures on them and all that.“

Daikaku furrowed his brow in confusion.  
„And no-one noticed that he was an imposter?“  
„Not for a long time, no“, Weismann replied lightheartedly, obviously not as offended by the idea as his friend. „I‘ve never gotten out of this country so far, so those books and their history were one of the few ways for me to at least imagine travelling.“  
„I am sure you will have opportunities to travel in the future.“  
Daikaku was surprised at the utter determination in his own voice, but at the same time, he realised that he really wished his words to become true. If anyone deserved to go out and see the world and broaden their horizon, it probably was this one-of-a-kind genius.  
„Thank you, Lieutenant.“

Weismann‘s smile at that was one of the quiet, almost sad ones only few people ever got to see, and Daikaku was aware that it was a privilege to get to know anything but the bubbly and outgoing personality of the man.  
„I‘d really love to see more of the world and all the different people living in it“, he said, and as sudden as he changed tones most of times, he turned to Daikaku in excitement. „For example, I definitely want to go see your homeland at some point, I need to test the bits and pieces of your language you‘ve taught me in practice after all, and see for myself who was right about Japan, you or the books I‘ve read!“  
Inwardly, Daikaku winced in memory of Weismann‘s set belief of Japan still being run by Shinobi and Samurai Clans, but rather than argue this point again, he replied with a smile: „Well, you would be welcome to stay at my place whenever you want to come visit, of course, that is the least I can offer you in return for your hospitality here.“  
„Aww, thank you very much for the offer, I fully intend to mercilessly take advantage of it“, Weismann cheered, pulling Daikaku into a half hug and continuing down the street with a notable spring to his step. His enthusiasm, not matter how dire the situation, truly was infectious, and to be honest, Daikaku did not mind falling into pace with this mercurial person.

 

Turning another corner, Dakaiku realised they had basically walked in a big half circle, approaching the Zwinger from the western side, towers lit in the lower evening sun.  
„You recognise that building, I see, good to know you wouldn‘t get lost in this city entirely, then“, Weismann teased.  
„Of course I do“, Daikaku huffed slightly, „next to the church we work in, it is probably the one featured the most in the travel guide.“  
„Well, I never warmed up much to it, the Berlin and Potsdam castles are more impressive if you ask me.“  
Weismann shrugged, then added: „It houses a lot of the porcelain this city is so proud of, though. Its origin story should entertain you, unless you know of it already?“  
When Daikaku shook his head, Weismann continued with a lopsided smirk.  
„They discovered how to make it when tasking an alchemist with producing gold. It‘s strange, isn‘t it, seeing how people carelessly messing with things beyond their comprehension end up discovering the most surprising things in the process... I wonder what the two of us will end up accomplishing.“ 

If you are involved, something great, probably, Daikaku thought, but did not voice his thoughts, as Weismann suddenly stopped in his tracks to stare at something. Looking into the same direction, Daikaku noticed a sign put up next to the building which he recognised as the opera house, announcing that due to the war, performances would be discontinued from the first of September, the next day, in other words, on.  
„Ah, it is sad to see how these things get affected by the war, too“, he began, unsure why exactly Weismann seemed so personally transfixed by this sign. Sure, by now he knew that his young friend held a special liking towards classical music, but since Daikaku was not too knowledgeable about Western music, they had never really talked about it much.  
„Is everything al-“

„Do you want to go?“ Weismann interrupted him abruptly, turning towards him with a jolt.  
Daikaku just stared at him for a few seconds, expecting Weismann to laugh it off as a joke, before realising his friend was dead serious.  
„What, now?!“  
„Of course now, it‘s the last day!“  
„We can‘t just go like that! Looking like this, I mean, and in any case -“  
„I‘m fairly sure the party uniforms count as acceptable evening dress here“, Weismann interrupted him while adjusting his necktie, and then stepped in closer without missing a beat to smooth down the collar of Daikaku‘s jacket, ignoring his friend‘s flustered fidgeting. 

„The clothing is not the issue!“ Daikaku cried out, catching hold of Weismann‘s hands at last and pushed them away from his jacket with gentle emphasis. „I mean, you can‘t just not return to the lab in favour of dropping by the opera without contacting the superiors and-“  
„I don‘t care“, Weismann replied with obvious defiance, „plus, we can have a message sent to them from the reception, I‘m sure. It‘s probably the last chance we‘ll get to see the opera ensemble here perform before God knows how long, so we should definitely take it!“  
„I am not at all familiar with opera“, Daikaku stalled, „so I am not even going to make for a good companion in this, so you really-“  
„They are staging _Der Freischütz_ today, it says, I‘m familiar with that, so I can fill you in on details you might not get“, Weismann immediately shot down his attempt, pulling Daikaku closer a bit with his own grip on the scientist‘s hands. „Come on, please, humour me, Lieutenant, it would mean a lot to me!“

For a few moments, Daikaku just stared at the other man, unsure of what to do. He could name about twenty reasons why this was a bad idea from the top of his head, yet at the same time the prospect of denying this fairly simple request rubbed him off the wrong way. Weismann had worked harder than anyone else these past days, and if it was so easy to grant him a wish, Daikaku found it was entirely impossible for him to refuse, even though he was not quite sure why.  
„I“, he began, feeling Weismann lean in just a bit more, staring at him in intent as if his life depended on that answer. Daikaku sighed. He was probably going to regret this.  
„Fine, if you insist, I am going with you.“

If there was such a thing as genuine, pure happiness, Weismann probably was the embodiment of it, and in that moment, Daikaku thought that no matter what it may be, it probably was worth doing it, if that response was what he got in return.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: With most of these two characters‘ backstory only being covered in additional material, my biggest thanks go to [September Strawberrywine](http://september.strawberrywine.org/) who are doing a fantastic job translating Black&White, and to marchen-v-friendhof who translated [Adi‘s Story](http://marchen-v-friedhof.tumblr.com/post/53188634444/translation-of-blues-short-story-whale-in-the) ヽ(゜∇゜ヽ)  
> Due to timeline reasons, this one-shot is set in summer, but I still drew some inspiration from [this picture also](http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=manga_big&illust_id=36046140&page=12). Maybe they did make it to the Christmas Market after all (T‿T)/


End file.
